Okay, I know, or at least I hope, that this comes across as off-brand for MEATengines in the same way as Starling welding up an aluminum frame, Maxxis lowering tire prices, or Norco making a bike that I find myself regularly recommending folks consider. But one of those things did happen, $2600 with a Lyrik Ultimate, solid geo, good brakes, and the green colour is fantastic.
Anyway, I don’t like spending other peoples’ money, and I usually cautiously hedge between the relative values of buy-once-cry-once versus acceptable longevity and performance for a lower price. But this is the first product, or occasion, I can think of where both universes align. And yeah, it’s because we’re in an ‘interesting’ time in the bike world in terms of pricing and inventory. But does any of that matter if you’re in the market for a dropper post, or going to be in the market for a dropper post?
Anyway, I can argue in favour of a few different dropper posts depending on what features a rider is maximizing, but my own best overall dropper is definitely the BikeYoke Revive. I find them easy and enjoyable to work on, they stay slop-free for a surprisingly long time, they’ve been around (basically unchanged) for a decade and the parts on the latest V.3 models are backward compatible with the generation one posts. Plus they’re not-enough-‘o’s-in-smoooooth* for a longer interval than any other option on the market.
*{Thanks Larry Talker}
What are the negatives of the Revive? The longest drop version of the posts is 213mm, and for the purpose of this piece, they top out at 185mm. I’m generally lowering my posts to the 170-180mm range anyway, so this is a non-issue. For me. The stack height is taller than the premium Wolf Tooth Resolve or popular OneUp V2, although the V.3 saddle clamps and actuator erase a decent portion of the difference. And, the price.
I can argue about ‘amortizing your life’ all I want, but at the end of the day, not everyone can or will invest the upfront cost for a Revive when solid, very well-supported, options like PNW’s Range range exist. And in normal times the PNW Components posts are my counter point to the Revive, but not today.
Anyway, all this preamble to is down to the fact that Hayes-Manitou has clearance pricing on Jack. Jack dropper posts that is, which are just white-labelled BikeYoke V.2 posts. And, as noted, the jump from V.2 to V.3 boils down to some lower-stack clamps and a shorter actuator that are available aftermarket if you find you need them.
In Canuck-Bucks, that’s CAD, Manitou is selling the 80mm and 160mm versions for $270 and the 185mm version for $295. Those prices actually include a good, cartridge-bearing-pivot, dropper-post remote as well. Link here for more information.
To be clear, this is not an affiliate link or in any way sponsored by Hayes-Manitou. There’s no MEATengines kickback. I‘m merely sharing because if I was buying a new dropper post for my bike tomorrow it would be a Revive, and if I was buying a Revive it would be impossible to argue with the savings from having it branded as a Manitou Jack. At least while supplies last.
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